London Call (speed score 100) has just turned six yet has only run 10 times due to physical issues. Still, he has won half of those starts, testimony to his raw talent. Sunday’s Pinnacle Stakes win at Scottsville was impressive when he raced away from the field after racing handy. Credit to trainer Mark Dixon for extracting another victory out of the fickle son of Kahal.
Snaith Racing have been on the charge with 17 top two finishes from their last 30 runners, including three winners plus the exacta in the Jockey Club Stakes at Fairview with Acrostar and Harvard Crimson. Best speed figure on the day though went to Jo Malone (s/s 105 ?) in the Speedster Stakes, ahead of Snaith’s Harry Lime (s/s 98) and Normanz (s/s 97). Jo Malone has found her groove since moving to PE from the Highveld, and recorded a surprisingly high career best here. She is an erratic mare, so cannot be followed with confidence, but sprints well when Corne Spies has her at a peak.
Miracle Bureau (s/s 90+) shows above average ability and he recorded a third win from six outings at Turffontein. He seems to have problems, making breathing noises and hanging at some starts, but sharp trainer Joey Soma knows how to remedy those ailments and he bought the Trippi gelding back after a three months spell to beat off Le Clos and Duke Nukem.
Michael Robinson’s yard is in very good nick down in the Cape – both Belle of Croom (s/s 95) and King of the Corn (s/s 86) won at Kenilworth on Saturday. Glancing at Formgrids’ trainer stats, we find that he has won with 7 of his last 30 runners. This is a difficult time of the year to be punting in the Cape – form can be patchy with horses recovering from obligatory innoculations and the state of the going shifting constantly doesn’t make things any simpler . So, following an in-form trainer like Robinson may just help ease a tricky punting task.